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About

Mission Statement

The mission of THR Global Institute is to provide youth with a foundation that prepares them for community and global service leadership.

Theophous H Reagans
Global Institute

For more than a decade, Allen Temple Baptist Church Global Ministries, has engaged in cultural exchange and led teams to Southern Africa and to West Africa. Our brothers and sisters on the Continent have always received us with love and warm African hospitality. Our youth participants, together with local African youth, have engaged in a variety of educational and charitable activities, that not only provided opportunities for didactic and service learning, but that provided an opportunity for meaningful cultural exchange and for forging close friendships that last beyond the time frame of the trip. Our young people have been greatly enriched by their visits to South Africa, in particular, and their interaction with young South Africans. They have seen a glimpse of their past. The young South Africans also have been deeply touched and encouraged; they have seen hope for the future. Both groups realized they have a lot in common and that they could learn from each other in finding solutions to their common challenges.

During these engagements, Allen Temple Global Ministries developed a program that encourages youth and young adults to create bilateral community service programs that serve as agents of change. For example, South African participants established a women’s support group targeting young women living on the streets in Kliptown and a computer-training program targeting youth and seniors living in an impoverished community near their church.

Allen Temple Baptist Church Global Ministries continues to promote cultural and religious exchange by sponsoring global sojourns. We established THR Global Institute as an adjunct to Global Ministries’ to address the nonsectarian needs of our future global leaders. THR Global Institute has created a more comprehensive global education program that includes, global justice awareness, public health awareness, career and vocational development, and global economic training. These courses and engagements are intended to provide skills and awareness that empower African and African American youth to create change in their communities. This paradigm of global engagement offers promise for establishing global partnerships that motivate and inspire youth on both continents and provides practice in multicultural global social activism, vocational development, and service learning.

Programs

Classes

Global Justice Awareness classes, which include an overview of social justice and civil rights movements in the U.S. and South Africa.
Workshops on poverty, sexism, homophobia, challenges facing immigrants, homelessness, public health issues, and world hunger.

Activities

Sojourns to the African Continent that include workshops with host youth and service learning.
Development and design of bilateral community improvement projects.
Opportunities for bilateral engagement and partnerships with young people in different countries (United States, Ghana, South Africa).

Workshops

"Through the Lens," a workshop on Black Liberation Theology, was led by one of Africa's most respected theologians, Dr. Allan Boesak. As preacher, prophet, pastor, theologian, ecumenist, author, political and human rights activist for many years, he represents perhaps the clearest picture of a truly organic theologian. Through the lens of Boesak's work and experiences, young adults discussed the resilience of black liberation theology and its continued application to today’s social justice issues.

Staff

Theophous H Reagans

As Executive Director of THR Global Institute, Mr. Reagans is responsible for the design and implementation of the sojourn activities and cultural exchange, and is responsible for implementing the Global Education Initiative. He has been doing this work for more than ten years, and has led numerous trips to South Africa. Mr. Reagans has developed the relationships and technical capacity needed to ensure the successful completion of this aspect of the work. As a licensed attorney, he has practiced law for a federal agency for over 21 years, and had the opportunity to lead the Civil Rights Investigation practice area in an agency Office of General Counsel and draft civil rights legislation for the agency.

Dr. Alvan Quamina

Dr. Quamina is a local public health official with extensive experience in grant making and grants management who assists Mr. Reagans in program design and implementation. He is also an experienced provider of health and social service project capacity building assistance. Dr. Quamina holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from Yale University, a law degree (J.D.) from UC Berkeley, a Ph.D. in Nonprofit Management from Capella University, and a Master of Public Health in Community Health Education from San José State University. Prior to joining a local health department, he managed nonprofit organizations and programs for over twenty years. He has also taught courses in health administration at the undergraduate level, and graduate-level courses in nonprofit management at a local seminary.

Orlando H. Harris

Mr. Harris has over 25 years of business experience in executive business development consultative sales. Over the past eight years he has used those experiences to propel himself into a successful career in higher education. He currently serves as the Executive Director for Career Services & Development at San Francisco State University (SFSU). Orlando is a graduate of Alabama A&M University, where he majored in Business and Computer Science with a minor concentration in Military Science. Additionally, he spent 14 years as a reserve officer with the United States Army.

Our Board Members

Donna Wade-Anderson, Esq.
Rev. Warren R. Long
Alvan G.V. Quamina, J.D., M.A., Ph.D.
Theophous H Reagans, Esq., M.A.
Peter K. Thompson, Esq.

Testimonials

Watch Video Testimonials (created by one of our participants)

Video

“It is one thing for one to go on a trip and meet a few people, share a few gourmet meals, sleep on goose down pillows and Egyptian cotton sheets then return home unbothered and with one more notch on your travel belt. However, it is a completely different and distinct blessing and honor to have a genuine experience that puts a notch on one's consciousness and in one’s heart.

My attendance of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference through Allen Temple Global Ministries was without shadow of a doubt, the latter experience.

Prior to our departure for Norfolk, I and I am sure a few others had no idea what to expect from the Proctor Conference. I must admit, that indeed, I was a tad disgruntled about missing school and getting behind on school work to go to this conference that I knew so little about—in the cold and all the way on the East Coast. Nevertheless, setting my emotions aside, I boarded the plane and took off to Norfolk, Virginia. All apprehension disappeared at first step into the lobby of the Waterside Marriot Hotel. Rather than meeting awkward introductions and forced pleasantries, I was greeted with genuine, jovial hugs, handshakes, and hellos from a myriad of people, none that I knew, but all as brothers and sisters who had come together for a common cause.

From that moment on I had fellowship with people ranging from: concerned pew members to seminarians; theologians to famed preachers; civil rights icons to prophetic educators; and activists to world changers of all classes and creeds. As if the networking, diversity of people and variety of interaction were not enough, we had our minds expanded, theologies bent, twisted and challenged in the best ways possible. We had our eyes opened to a multitude of issues and causes in the immensely informative breakout sessions and classes. We had the opportunity to learn from local, national, and international leaders, preachers, and teachers.

I must say that in four days I gained a lifetime worth of experiences and knowledge but moreover, a charge to be a beacon of light within my own church and community. And, I received a refreshed theology template that will allow me to eliminate some of the prejudices and oppressive practices that the church has allowed to hurt and abuse people for so long.

Above all, the Proctor Conference gave me a renewed vision and purpose and a deep rooted investment in the progression of the world. I am most grateful.”

– Daniel Mastin

Donate

Our charitable work and leadership development are only possible through fundraising and the generous support of donors. Your support will make a difference and literally change the lives of dozens of children and youth in South Africa and Ghana, and help local youth learn to live their commitment to service in a global context.

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